WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the City of Boston announced a partnership to connect consumers with the CFPB to ask questions and submit complaints about financial products and services. Boston consumers can now dial the Mayor’s 24-Hour Constituent Service hotline at (617) 635-4500 to be connected with the Bureau.

“We are proud to be teaming up with Mayor Menino to give Bostonians new ways to access help with financial products and services,” said Director Richard Cordray. “Consumers deserve to have someone on their side, and we look forward to working with the City of Boston to do just that.”

“Constituent service has always been at the forefront of our administration,” Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said. “This partnership gives us one more way to assist residents and gives us the tools to address important and often complex financial questions they may have.”

In Boston, the phone number (617) 635-4500 is a non-emergency line connecting residents to city services. City representatives are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to respond to service requests and issues. With today’s announcement, Boston residents who call the Mayor’s hotline with a question or complaint about consumer financial products or services will be transferred directly to the Bureau, which can answer questions and accept complaints.

The CFPB works with consumers on the challenges they face with financial products and services, and now handles consumer complaints on credit cards, mortgages, bank accounts or services, private student loans, consumer loans, credit reporting, and money transfers. The CFPB screens complaints to make sure they are complete, are not duplicates of existing complaints, and are about something the Bureau covers. The CFPB then sends complaints that meet these criteria to the company -- bank or nonbank -- for review and response. Companies are given 15 days to respond and are expected to close all but the most complicated complaints within 60 days.

Consumers can check the status of their complaint and provide feedback about the company’s response at: www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint

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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a 21st century agency that helps consumer finance markets work by making rules more effective, by consistently and fairly enforcing those rules, and by empowering consumers to take more control over their economic lives. For more information, visit www.consumerfinance.gov.